<p>After two games of the regular season, the Saints and their fans know a few things about the team.</p><p>First, the defense is porous.</p><p>Without some significant improvements on the defensive side of the football, the Black and Gold will have serious trouble this year stopping anyone.</p><p>Second, the Saints' offense will continue to keep the team in games even if the defense sometimes struggles.</p><p>Drew Brees has suffered through a slow start to the season, but at times, the offense has been the same, powerful offense Saints fans are used to seeing.</p><p>Third, the team is missing suspended head coach Sean Payton.</p><p>Payton has been a master at making halftime adjustments to counteract whatever the opposing team is doing successfully. Without Payton on the sidelines, the Saints seem slow to adjust.</p><p>Finally, we all know this: It is still far too early for fans to lose hope in their favorite team.</p><p>The Saints have played two bad games, and they have been in both of them until the final time expired.</p><p>As badly as they played against the Redskins in Week 1 and the Panthers in Week 2, they had a chance to come back in both games.</p><p>And there were flashes of the brilliance we've all come to expect.</p><p>There just weren't enough of those moments.</p><p>After just two games, though, even the lessons the team and its fans have learned are just temporary.</p><p>The defensive coaches should be able to make some improvements to the ways the Saints try to attack opposing teams.</p><p>And the offensive coaches and players should be able to make adjustments to their play to more closely resemble the high-octane team we have watched in recent seasons.</p><p>Saints fans can take heart that they still have the best quarterback in the NFL in Brees, and that Brees is still surrounded by a healthy stable of offensive weapons.</p><p>The fact that the team has shown some signs of rust in its first two games should be a concern, but it should not cause any panic.</p><p>The team will take stock again after this week's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that has also struggled in the first two games of the season.</p><p>With any luck, local fans will be talking next week about how things are looking up for the 1-2 Saints following an impressive win over the Chiefs this Sunday.</p><p>Geaux Saints!</p><p>Editorials represent the opinions of the newspaper, not of any individual.</p>